Google Chromecast Celebrates Anniversary with Special Offer

Google is celebrating the one-year anniversary of its $35 Chromecast dongle by giving new and existing owners a free 90-day subscription to Google Play Music All Access, the company's all-you-can-eat streaming music buffet. The promotion kicked off Thursday and U.S. residents can take advantage of the offer through September 30 — which is right around the time OS X Yosemite could arrive on Macs, judging from today's morning report.

Yosemite Rumored for October Alongside 4K, 12-Inch MacBook

With the OS X Yosemite public beta now in the hands of up to a million Mac owners, Apple appears to be laying the groundwork for the final release this fall. According to 9to5Mac, insider sources claim the Cupertino company is eyeing a gold master around October 10, with the free update landing on the Mac App Store later the same month.

The more interesting part of this rumor is that Apple will also debut a smaller, 12-inch model of the MacBook Pro with Retina Display to coincide with the OS X Yosemite release, along with "a new desktop computer, either an iMac or a standalone monitor, with a 4K resolution screen." The mere mention of a "standalone monitor" will likely make owners of the latest Mac Pro models perk up in anticipation, along with those impatiently waiting for a followup to Apple's current Thunderbolt Display.

Paragon Debuts OS X Yosemite Preview for NTFS for Mac

Speaking of OS X Yosemite, the folks at Paragon Software have announced a preview version of their popular NTFS for Mac, which allows Apple's latest and greatest operating system to format and read Windows partitions of any kind. The OS X Yosemite preview is absolutely free for 60 days, which will then be offered as NTFS for Mac OS X 11, with full compatibility for OS X Yosemite 10.10. (How's that for confusing number schemes?)

Apple "Frustrated" with Cheapskate Casual Gamers?

Think five bucks is too much to pay for a mobile game? That sentiment is driving many developers crazy, including Stoic Studios, makers of the Steam-powered tactical adventure The Banner Saga. In an interview with Polygon (via TouchArcade), co-founder John Watson lamented about iOS owners being unwilling to pay even a few bucks for the latest and greatest mobile games — and claims Apple is even more distressed by this phenomenon.

"Apple is frustrated, along with everybody else, about the mentality that's gone rampant in mobile app markets, where people don't want to pay anything," explained Watson. "They think that four dollars is an exorbitant amount to pay for a game, which is very illogical considering most people's lifestyles. They'll spend $600 on an iPad, and $4 on a coffee, drop $20 on lunch, but when it comes to spending four or five dollars on a game, it's this life-altering decision. I'm frustrated with that too."

Coincidentally, Stoic is now putting the final touches on an iPad port of The Banner Saga, which is expected to arrive on the App Store later this summer; no word on whether it will be free to play, however.